[Nfbmdtlc-chapter] Blind side: Visually impaired Taneytown native has a radio show, teaches as he prepares for college

[White, Scott]

Blind side: Visually impaired Taneytown native has a radio show, teaches as he prepares for college

Chris Nusbaum
Chris Nusbaum of Taneytown laughs as he records jokes on his phone in the gathering room at Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Academy at the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore on Thursday, August 3, 2017. (Jen Rynda/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
Lisa Gregory

Oh, the questions he has been asked and the stories he can tell. And as a visually impaired person, 19-year-old Chris Nusbaum, has always responded to those questions with grace and good humor. Sometimes even with a maturity far beyond his years.

"I remember on the school bus a kid asked me if blind people got married," said Nusbaum. "I said: 'Yes, of course. I know blind people who are married and have kids.' Then he asked me, 'But how do you know if she's pretty?' What a great example of the middle school mindset, huh? I replied, 'I may not know what she looks like on the outside, but I do on the inside and that's what really counts.' "

According to Nusbaum, there are no wrong questions. Better to ask than not, offering an opportunity to educate and inform. And, "I think I have heard them all," he said. An especially frequent one is whether his other senses are heightened because of his blindness. The answer is no. "I don't have superhuman hearing," said Nusbaum, grinning.

Nusbaum is confident and comfortable in his own skin. Political correctness aside, he will tell you, "I have no problem calling myself a blind person; I am a blind person."

But not just a blind person. Nusbaum is a gifted musician and singer, the host of an internet radio show, a talented writer, an advocate for the blind, an adored son and a good friend. "It's not that blind people can't do things," he said. "It's just that we do them differently."

Nusbaum, who is from Taneytown, was born nine weeks early. As a result, he developed a version of retinopathy of prematurity, which causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina and can result in the retina detaching from the back of the eye.

His mother, Wendy Messersmith, remembers several months after his birth going on a vacation in the Outer Banks and "falling apart," she said. "I kept thinking he will never see this beautiful sunrise or this beautiful sunset. I cried. I had my pity party. Then I raised my child."

She and her then-husband Mike Nusbaum discovered the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. And she reached out to others through an online support group. "From early on I was guided by some wonderful people," she said. Messersmith specifically remembers the laundry basket and Hula-Hoop suggestions. "A blind child doesn't know that their toy is there so they don't reach for it," she said. "So, trying to teach crawling and walking were very difficult."

Then someone from the online group suggested she put her son in a laundry basket. "Now the toy couldn't get out of his way," said Messersmith. And when he was a bit older and needed more exploratory room it was suggested she use a Hula-Hoop. "When the toy hit the Hula-Hoop it didn't move," she said. "This advice came from parents who had been there, done that."

In fact, Nusbaum is now part of that same online group. "I am answering some of the same questions my mother asked for me," he said.

One message from the group was consistent though. "Don't hold them back," said Messersmith. "These kids need to be prepared to be on their own at some point."

Nusbaum was a bright and inquisitive child who loved the radio. When most children were watching cartoons, he was listening to talk radio. "I pretended I had my own radio show and really thought I would grow up and do that," he said. And while he plans to be a teacher working with blind students, he has for the past several years hosted an internet radio show called "The Blind Side" that focuses on blind issues.

By the time he had enrolled at Runnymede Elementary, Nusbaum, who had a one-on-one aide and a teacher of the visually impaired, began to realize he was different. "During recess on the playground the other kids would be in these little groups, and I would be alone," he recalled. "I tried to understand why that was."

"Chris didn't realize he was blind," said Messersmith. "I told him: 'Chris, it is what it is. Yeah, there are days it's going to suck and times that it's not.' " Then with the sharp wit her son has inherited she said, "The only things I suggested he not choose to be is a pilot or a cab driver. But other than that, I told him the world was open to him."

And he set about embracing it. An avid reader, as an 8-year-old he traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the Braille Challenge, an academic contest. He even made an appearance on Nickelodeon, participating in a segment on "Out of Sight: How Blind Kids See the World." And he made friends. In fact, "Everyone should have a friend like Chris," said Ari Lipka, who has known Nusbaum since first grade. The two often enjoyed going to the movies together with Lipka providing the commentary of what was happening on the screen.

Nusbaum also has a natural affinity for music. "He can hear a song once and then play it back to you," said his mother. He was active in chorus during school and recently entertained fellow travelers with an impromptu performance on a cruise ship during a visit to Alaska.

Six years ago came a life-changing event for Nusbaum. He discovered the NFB on his own terms. He had had exposure to the organization early on, when his parents would attend events. However, Nusbaum's own involvement with NFB changed when he attended the NFB Leadership and Advocacy in Washington, D.C., program in 2011. He specifically recalls a meeting with a representative of former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett's office and a discussion about the Technology Bill of Rights for the Blind. In an article, he wrote for The Braille Monitor, Nusbaum, said, "At that moment I thought I want to be a part of this (NFB). Here was an organization in which I could help fight discrimination and increase opportunities for all the blind."

Since then, Nusbaum has served on the board of the National Association of Blind Students and served as president of the Maryland Association of Blind Students. He is also one of the founders of the Carroll County chapter of NFB.

And he enjoys working with the NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning program, which provides children with concentrated Braille instruction during the summer.

"I think Chris has the heart for leadership," said Mark Riccobono, president of the NFB.

This spring, Nusbaum, who graduated in 2016 from Francis Scott Key High School where he was a member of the National Honor Society, returned from nine months at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, a residential training facility. This was done in preparation for him going to college this fall. He will be only the second blind student to attend Lynchburg College in Virginia.

And as he prepares for the next phase of his life, he says he wouldn't change anything. Nusbaum is often asked if he had the opportunity to see would he choose to do so.

"Without hesitation, I wouldn't take it," he said. "Having been blind all my life, I have become used to life as a blind person. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Copyright (c) 2017, Carroll County Times, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/neighborhoods/cc-nh-nusbaum-profile-20170808-story.html

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